Prophetic Code

Is there a prophetic code that somehow allows us to press in and to know the heart, mind, will of God? It would make things convenient!

We live in a world of shortcuts; it’s full of instant success, instant food, information and results. Has that pervasive culture somehow infiltrated the life and ethos of the church?

God has much to say in the Scriptures – but also speaks through the various ministries and gifts that God has placed in the church.

The understanding and conviction held by many is that God is always speaking, where we go adrift is our timeframe of such encounters with Him is different to the Bible. We expect it all, here and now.

It leads to that place of pressure that says, “God has so much to say, so little time to say it, so It all needs to be unpacked here and now! What is God saying? What is he doing? Where is he doing it? If there is only some quick way of discerning it all!” Gerald Coates once commented that the average Charismatic had more Words from God in a day than Billy Graham received in a year!

No rush!

When we read the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Amos we often fail to read into the narrative the structure and dynamics of time. This often spoils the reading and meaning for ourselves. Everything we read in the prophets was not revealed and then given in one huge 20-gigabyte download as with a computer. It is being disclosed and spoken by God over a prolonged period (sometimes over many years) and then reported by God’s messengers in words, signs and drama over a period of years in a way that people can understand. The Bible pulls the event together in one go, resulting in something like Daniel that you can read through in an hour, but that took years to happen.

The big challenge is, revelation comes only from the Spirit of God, not from ourselves, from what we know, or from social media or hearsay.

Prophetic codes?

There are no hidden codes to prophetic ministry, but are there hints, clues, signs for us to interpret and understand what it is that God is bringing to mind or choosing to review at any given point? There are. But…

We have to be careful that we correctly discern what the Spirit is saying, whilst being aware of our own perceptions. By that, I mean the perceptions that come from our own observations, biases, agenda.

Nice word, but is it true?

A good question to ask is, “Is this what I think, or what God is saying?” That is a good question to ask yourself. You are accountable for the words that you share, what you say, and even for any dramatic demonstration, you may give us a sign, after all, that is a communication of something that you have in mind and that you are trying to communicate to them as a revelation of God.

If you are encouraging someone rather than being prophetic, say so! The gift of encouragement is awesome, and everyone needs encouragement. Just don’t spoil it by dressing it as a prophecy! Even if your words of well-meaning and words of kindness, if they are given as prophecy and are not the revelation of God they are just words, they won’t produce life but people will be waiting patiently for them to bear fruit! Oops! That could be like a pigeon sitting on a cooked chicken egg for the whole of summer waiting for it to hatch!

Do everything out of the heart of love and you will do well. Don’t do it for fame, don’t do it for fortune, do it for God. If there was a code, that would be it!

It sounds harsh especially if you’re stepping out in faith believing your hearing or discerning something from God for somebody who wants to hear God. I am being overly harsh here, just to express a point which is to draw your attention to being careful about what you say, and what you do, in the name of, and on behalf of the Lord.

I want you to grow in your ministry

This is not to shut down your desire or intention to serve God in the capacity that you do, but just to exercise caution. We want the best for each other, always. We serve one another with the gifts of the spirit and with the multiple ministries that God has given the church, and we do want to encourage each other to fan into flame gifts that God has given, but let’s have a zeal to step out as much as we can in the authentic scripture-honouring Christ-exalting, God-glorifying gifts of the Spirit. Everything we do is by faith, and with faith, so I encourage you to take risks. As those who are taking the effort to grow in their gifting or ministry by;

carefully scrutinising what they are doing,

how they are doing it and

the motives behind it,

this is a valid call on the exercise of your ministry.

I pray that you will have good stories to tell but that other people will tell them about you and for you, that their lips will be quick to tell the story of what God has done and include you in the story.

What you see and is being shown!

As far as what we see, we must never read body language and try to gain from it an understanding what the spirit is saying. If you do so it is easy to go adrift. For example, you may spot a happy person, but then “even in laughter the heart may grieve.”(Proverbs 14:13) – such a person looks happy but underneath there is sadness. Reading body language gives you the wrong interpretation. We must return to the idea, to the truth, that the prophetic ministry including the gift is about revelation. And revelation comes from the Spirit of God, not from ourselves, from what we know, or from social media or hearsay. Don’t be in a rush to prophesy, but be eager nevertheless!

Tomorrow there will be weather!

I would urge you not to prophesy the obvious, or try to be a big shot with the prophetic. I say that with a slight smile because I know many people moving in the gifts of the spirit have a desire to have accurate and inspiring words from God that stirred the heart of the church, but I would encourage you to have a mindset that leads you to a place where you’ve concluded that there is nothing clever or inspiring about prophesying babies, births, dates or marriages. People who have had these events happen are usually quick to tell their story. I pray that you will have good stories to tell but that other people will tell them about you and for you, that their lips will be quick to tell the story of what God has done and include you in the story. We are after all co-workers with Christ.

Sorry, no codes today!

There are no codes for prophetic revelation, no hidden meanings, no discoveries, nothing that can help you have a clarity and an understanding that is beyond the remit that you already have. Just wait on God and work hard on life relationships and your hobby.

What will help you is having the conviction of scripture to pursue 1 Corinthians 14:1 where the apostle Paul told you to “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” As Bob Jones told me, “if you love people and if you love God when you share words with them you can really go wrong.”

Do everything out of the heart of love and you will do well. Don’t do it for fame, don’t do it for fortune, do it for God. If there was a code, that would be it!